The first two episodes of Telltale’s The Walking Dead joined the Instant Game Collection last week, and today, we’re announcing even more content coming to Plus! We’re excited to welcome PSN Games Outland and Bloodrayne: Betrayal to the PlayStation Plus family. Read on to learn more about these games and other great content coming exclusively for Plus members.

Free for PlayStation Plus Members

This innovative PSN Game blended open world 2D action color-based puzzle platforming to deliver an experience like none other. Heralded by critics, we’re happy to bring Outland to Plus members. Make sure you check out the co-op challenges scattered throughout the game’s world to get the most from Outland’s breathtaking world.

Free for PlayStation Plus Members

With this year’s PSN PLAY in full swing, we thought we’d revisit one of last year’s PSN PLAY titles to deliver free to Plus members. Sporting incredibly slick animation and amazingly detailed characters, monsters, and environments in luscious (LUSCIOUS) high resolution, this is a game that many might have missed, and now have no excuse not to check it out.

We’re always looking to get members the best deals on new releases,so we’re making the anticipated PSN Game Papo & Yo that much easier to snag when it drops on 8/14. It’s an amazing world crafted by the team at Minority. Follow a young boy named Quico and his best friend Monster through the surreal favelas of his homeland. It’s a dangerous journey through a constantly changing world, and you get an exclusive price break on the new adventure. Check out all the great features on Papo & Yo and pick up the game this week!

Closed Beta Access and 50% off Mercenary Pack Add-On

Remember that Beta I talked about earlier? I know, it was a bit in the making but we’re happy to welcome our friends from the Dust 514 team into Plus with exclusive access for the closed beta. Dust 514 is the free to play first person shooter that may change the face of how we battle online in games. Help test the first live direct connection to the extremely popular EVE Online MMO as players on the main server in DUST 514 and EVE Online can chat in real time and send in-game mail between games. It’s a first in gaming, it’s free to play when it releases later this fall, and exclusive access is coming to Plus members on 8/21. You’ll have until September 4th to jump in the Beta. Read more about the features available in this Beta in a post from Brandon Laurino, Executive Producer on Dust 514.

We’re also sporting a 50% discount on the Mercenary Pack DLC for Dust 514 which gives access to in-game currency to spend in game, skill boosts, and exclusive gear. Now I know what you’re thinking: this is a beta, how can I buy Add-Ons if it’s in beta? Good question! Any Add-Ons that are purchased with Dust 514 while the game is in Beta will be carried over when the game releases later this fall. So buy with confidence! There’s a ton of great Dust 514 blog posts; read up on the game and jump in the Beta.

It’s the return of the king. The first editions of Counter Strike back in the day paved the way for what online shooters are today. Now Valve is partnering with PlayStation to deliver this new release 20% off when it becomes available for download on 8/21. The final title of the PSN PLAY promotion, make sure you’ve picked up as many titles from PLAY as possible so you can get the most amount of PlayStation Store credit back on September 7th.

Natsume Sale

Natsume fans! Got a PSP? You’re in luck. 4 of Natsume’s best titles including some of the best from the Harvest Moon series are going on a nice 50% off sale. Adventures To Go!, Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl, Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon , Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors, and Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley are all part of the sale.
Watch the PlayStation Store Updates for more news on additional Plus deals. Stay tuned for our next update scheduled for August 27th, and as always, let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Comments

People are complaing because we are comparing our updates to the european ps+.
If both services got the same updates, we would be happy.
But since they are having much more better content, we demand the same quality for us.

Plus continues to be a great value for my gaming dollar. While the offerings that are being added aren’t exactly my cup of tea, I could find myself liking Walking Dead and then bam, they make money when I buy the rest of the episodes. I kinda have to shed a tear at the Dust discount, I paid full price for it and to be honest the Aurum you get is already worth 20bux.

Why does EU have such good deals? Sony, fire your PSN employees here and give us people with brains like the Europe PSN employees. And im also tired of being ripped off. You buy a **** game, and it lowers in price the next day or it gets offered free for plus.

Anyone else getting really tired of Morgan acknowledging that the current month’s offerings suck but saying “just wait until you see what we have for you NEXT month!”? He needs a new line as we’re several months into the Plus offerings sucking.

i just have a feeling a lot of people seem to be these 3 month subscribers that are just looking to cash in. i am sorry for 18$ you can’t expect ps3 full games the whole 3 months. i mean seriously just think for 18$ you got to play 16 games if you count the two monthly rotations and you are going to whine and complain about them being psn or ps3 games!!!! all i want to say is i miss the discounts that used to come with plus for a lot of games. keep up the good work guys and next month there will be ps3 releases as free games because they want people to for the yearly subscription or renew their 3 month subscription which i am fine because they got to make money out of this service people….

A PSN title each month and MAYBE we’d get a surprise Full Game. That’s what I liked! I really hate seeing complainers want FULL GAMES. You’re getting a lot of games! I’m not renewing because of lack of games. I won’t renew this September because I have TOO MANY games. I barely play the freebies too. I liked the old version. A PS1 game and a DLC title, hell we’d sometimes get 3 PS1 games!

Screw the instant game collection, because you want to know why? Everyone’s expectations are through the roof. With it, you promised Full games just like in the E3 update. This is beginning to look a lot like the old plus without PS1 games or bonus goodies. It’s by no means a bad thing, just … not what you advertised when you made the switch.

I have to say I’d like the old layout with having games spread out through the month and limited to a few titles (1/2) plus a PS1 game. I don’t want to feel like I’m complaining, I’m just providing feedback. I am liking the Discount on the mercenary pack. Will purchase! (even though I already have the beta).

Disregard the people bashing this update. This is a fantastic one. I like that this month was 4 PSN games instead of full PS3 games. I like full PS3 games too, but I usually have more fun with PSN games, so I like the mix of games over the last 2/3 months as a whole.

This update is a great one for me. ANd I can’t imagine how it would be “bad” for anybody. Outland is amazing. BloodRayne is pretty good. So excited the pre-order for CounterStrike is up. Can’t wait to play the game, and the Plus price makes the value even greater than it already was considering I initially thought this game was going to be a retail release at at least $40. And beta access to DUST 514, which IMO is one of the greatest things Plus has offered, I just wish it was offered earlier. I’ve been reading all the info on DUST, and I think this is going to be one of the most revolutionary FPS experiences on consoles to date, and we can play the game for free!!! Though I’ll certainly be getting the premium upgrade, especially with that great discount.

I see Sony is in touch with the gamer, they understand we’re broke, lol. Value for money, nothing touches PS3 with a Plus account.

Ive had plus before. The other deal before may was better. This just sucks. the SAME content is still here like infamous 2 and the others. We get a full game removed for 2 psn games and 1 unfinished game. Other people say its bad too. 80% of people are not happy. Go with your 20% and stay out of this conversation.

I think the thing a lot of the Plus defenders forget is that we don’t get any of these games. These are all rentals, like a Netflix… we can play them on demand, but we don’t actually own them. What I expected from this service was access to a large amount of full PS3 games, like a Netflix. What it has turned out to be is that you only get a couple PS3 games, and its mainly just indie games. Its quite the disappointment to me.

I also miss when they had more significant discounts… that mattered to me more since I prefer actually owning games instead of just renting them. But these days, the discounts have gone down in %, and there are less of them total.

I’d take the old Playstation Plus from earlier this year over what we have now in a heartbeat.

Man, what a bunch of whiners some PS+ subscribers can be! No-one forced you to sign up, it’s completely optional, unlike Live, where they annually skin you for the most basic of features – playing online! Plus, you need to buy Live whether you like the deals or not. Plus represents awesome value for money over the course of a year. Sure, there’s going to be months where you’ve bought some stuff, but there’ll be other times where you will be super-pleased you bought in.

What I like about Plus is the opportunity to try games that I was curious about, but not enough to drop money on. Bloodrayne falls into this category for me – a game where I liked the demo just fine, but there were a ton of other games in my collection that would always be in front of it, so I did not purchase it at the time. Now I can fire it up at my leisure, no pressure to buy it in the week of a sale or anything.

Imagine if you were new to Playstation and picked up a year of Plus (or even the three month card) when you bought the console. You instantly have a bunch of great games to play which would otherwise have cost you in excess of $200, with more to come, over the next twelve months.

HA! Gotcha Morgan :) i knew it was outland xD and well i bought that one already… and never really played it lol so i guess i can say i bought it for nothing cuz here it is free now xD but for bloodrayne im glad i liked the demo when it came out last year but i never played it so im happy at least one of the games isnt one i have

but seriously now Morgan…. Next month… It has to be AT LEAST 2 Full Games to change because its enough already those games with platinum trophies have been there too long its time to switch those out and how about 1 minis next month too? That would be nice. Angry Birds anyone? Now that i said Angry Birds i wonder why a Vita touch version hasnt come out with all the different AB games combined ito one big game…. I cant be the only guy whose thought of this come on man :)

I’m not defending that guy, but Sony has revoked promised features that you PAID for. Avatars? Themes? PS1 games? Minis? They were all promised at a specific rate, each month, under contract, which Sony has inexplicably taken away and replaced with a program that, as far as the community seems to think, is way, way, worse. Even the wonderfully inept Morgan Haro knows that it’s terrible, as he’s fed the same “It’ll be better next month, sorry” line to users for likely 5-6 updates in a row now.

I apologize if I enjoy getting what I’m told I paid for. I guess not everyone is allowed to disagree with something that’s blatantly inadequate.

And just to once again offer my feedback for your PSN pre-order program. I think it’s a fantastic idea, and you’re doing the right thing to offer a Plus discount on the pre-orders. It’s win/win for all parties from Sony through to the consumer, But, to quote Columbo “There’s…… just one thing that’s bothering me”.

What you get for pre-ordering is not something I care for, or want. A Theme? I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I won’t even download it when I pre-order CS:GO. I would like you to go the same route that gets me to pre-order games at retail. Exclusive (at least timed) in-game content. Exclusive guns, skins, characters, customising items…..these kinds of things. That’s what gets people excited about pre-ordering, not a theme. Especially when custom themes made by people and given away all over the internet for free, typically blow official dynamic themes out of the water, nevermind static themes.

Just some feedback for the people at Sony who make such decisions to think about.
Thanks for reading.

Sony really must not want my money with this kind of update. This month we got 2/5 of a game and two PSN games, while taking out a full game. This would be ok if we had a really good update last week, but it wasn’t anything great, in fact the only good update was the very first one when all 12 of the games came out. How can EU get a lot of great games but the U.S. cant? At this point in time I see no reason to renew my subscription.

Had to log in to add my voice to those who are pleased with PS+. I don’t care if it’s a retail game or PSN game, I care that I’m interested in the title (and Outland and Bloodrayne seem like they’re worth a go). Walking Dead, which was somehow not on my radar, was amazing. I beat both episodes over the weekend. I don’t care that they’re $5 PSN games. It was 6 hours of gaming greatness that cost me $50 a year to PS+, in addition to all of the other games I’ve downloaded. This is my first year as a Plus Member and I already know I’m going to renew next year.

Another great update more free games and discounts, even a beta which is everything ps plus promises. Now here are my thoughts to what alot say, People getting mad that a PSN game replaces a full PS3 game, you act like you don’t get to play that full ps3 game that they removed no more but you do, well I do because I always stay subscribed since day one and I have so many free games in my download list still that are great that soemtimes I don’t know what I want to play. Also if I was a first time user to ps plus seeing that list of 12 games that I get for subscribing plus the discounts, and knowing that next month they will offer even more free games, and even though that a full ps3 game may get replaced with a PSN game I would remember that hey thats okay with me because I still have the game that they replaced it with and the new one that took it’s place, now that is a win win for me.

I just look at the brighter side of things. I also see people saying about minis not being offered, well as I see people complaining that a psn game replaces a psn game, I could imagine people would even be more irrate if a mini replaced a full ps3 game, but either way for me I am happy with everything that gets offered. Good job sony, oh yeah if I already own a game like I did Little Big Planet 2, just give it to a friend since it on disc and I download the ps plus one.

Everyone whos complaining about the complainers lol look people BEFORE this instant game collection MONTHLY we got more games! Now each month we get LESS games than before, were paying for this so if someone wants to complain LET THEM they have the right to do so…. as long as they arent insulting anyone or stuff like that its ok…. if you Dont wanna read then dont no one is obligating you to do so just scroll down and continue with your lives lol geezus

Wow, things are getting angry around here, Morgan. Lots of complaining and complaining about complaining.
Here’s what I think: honestly, these are 2 games that weren’t remotely on my radar but I’m not mad or anything. PS+ still has a ridiculous amount of value. And I appreciate surprises. However, SCEE is still looking better by comparison, and I think both territories would be wise to make an attempt to offer the same content. I’m looking forward to the Dust beta as well as the Harvest Moon sales. And I’m excited to see what’s coming next month. Fingers crossed for Motorstorm Apocolypse, Dead Space 2, Darksiders, Resistance — something along those lines.

Id also like to voice an opinion. ALL games published on PSN with trophies should be REQUIRED to contain a platinum. Whats so hard to add a platinum trophy? Almost 99% of PSN games do not contain a platinum. Come on!

HAHA you guys have to be kidding with this update right? I mean Dust 514 for the PS+ beta? Where everyone can practically already join without being a plus member, it was suppose to be PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. I already have the beta but you guys just let a lot of people down. LOL

ccrogers15 we have excellent employees here on PS … the guys who pick what gets released on the store im sure their names have never even been mentoned on here but dont be talking about my bro Morgan man cuz hes co lol i think you should be on the blogcast Morgan they should put you there for being a nice guy

thanks for the vote of confidence! we have a great team here at PlayStation and it can be hard to see how we influence good things, but we’re all about it; even if it’s unseen actions that the community may never know about.

It’s true. PSN Plus is a subscription based gaming on demand service. As long as you’re a subscriber you get to play the games. It’s not hidden. That’s the whole point of the service. As you said it’s like netflix. I’m not understanding why you consider that a bad thing? Do you complain to netflix that you can’t watch videos when your sub runs out? (assuming you are a netflix subscriber, I know I’m not but I understand it, and there’s nothing to complain about)

Why don’t you compare Plus to Sony’s main competitor’s subscription service. Breaking it down with your own logic, MicroSoft is charging you a subscription just so you have access to the online half of games. If you don’t renew your subscription, you are no longer allowed to play the online portion of games you actually paid for. It’s not like you get Halo or Gears for free, eh?

Whats better. $50 a year to have access to like $1000 in games, or $50 a year for the right to play the online half of games you must also pay for?

Morgan and Sony, this update is complete B.S. You replace a ps3 full title with crappy psn games. What are you guys problem? EU plus is kicking the sh$$ out of NA plus. If the game does not have a platinum trophy then don’t offer it to plus subscribers. No platinum automatically says the game sucks 9 out 10 times. If you people don’t switch to the EU plan then I’m done with plus. I have been a plus member for over a year now but not for much longer. I own my own bussiness and if I treated customers in two seperate ways like the NA and EU plan you guys are doing I would be out of bussiness. Or sued for discrimination. So fix your issue or plus NA will be done soon because we the CONSUMERS here in NA will not stand to be treated like SH$$ while EU customers get treated better. I have 55 days left on my subscription if you guys offer CRAP like this in September then I’m not renewing and I will be letting everyone know plus NA is a joke and not to waste money on it.

Please, for the love of all that is sane, inform every reader here that just because Dust 514 is horrible now it doesn’t mean it’s going to be horrible upon release. Dust 514 is a beta, not some stupid demo. A beta is basically a work in progress.

I’m a beta tester and I can tell you that Dust 514 has already gone through multiple changes including that of its core mechanics and will continue to be improved before it hits the market. Due to the restrictions imposed by CCP’s NDA requirement, I cannot post details as to what changes there are at the moment.

What is it with players these days confusing “closed betas” with “demos” when they are clearly two completely different beasts? CCP even posted on the forums, login screen, E3 press conference, Fanfest 2012, etc. that Dust 514 is incomplete and will be improved upon over time before the end of the year. Yet, we have idiots going around posting comments that Dust 514 sucks? What did you people expect from an incomplete game that is still undergoing development?